Protective strap for handle

ABSTRACT

A protective strap includes a base layer and a top layer bonded to the base layer. The base layer is fastened to a handle of a sporting apparatus or a sleeve fitted onto the handle. The top layer, which is made of rubber and is smaller in thickness than the base layer, is provided with not only shock-absorptive and skidproof effects but also holding comfortableness. Additionally, the top layer is larger in width than the base layer such that a space is formed under where the top layer is overlapped while the protective strap is spirally wound around the handle or the sleeve. When the sporting apparatus is rotated in a direction opposite to a direction around which the protective strap is wound, the top layer can be partially deformed toward the space to absorb an external force such that the protective strap will not be turnup.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to sporting equipment, and more particularly to a protective strap for use in a handle of a sporting apparatus.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Generally speaking, a conventional protective strap, which is made of natural or artificial leather, is wound around a handle of a sporting apparatus, such as golf club, hockey stick, tennis racket, etc., for holding by a user so as to form a grip of the sporting apparatus. For example, the protective strap, which is made of cowskin, is ineffective in shock absorption and is subject to cause pains for the user's hand while waving the sporting apparatus. Afterwards, manufacturers of protective straps made an improvement that the cowskin was replaced by a polymeric material, e.g. polyurethane (PU) is coated on a base layer made of nonwoven cloth so as to form a strap body containing a gripping layer made of PU and the base layer. The strap body is spirally wound around the handle of the sporting apparatus. The PU material is provided with flexibility, gripping comfortableness, and predetermined degree of shock absorption for absorbing the shock generated by hitting balls. In addition, the base layer of nonwoven cloth enhances the tensile strength of the protective strap body to prevent the top gripping layer of the protective strap body from rupture caused by the strain while the protective strap body is wound around the handle of the sporting apparatus.

[0005] However, since the top gripping layer of PU is provided with a smooth and dampproof surface, the top gripping layer is ineffective in absorbing or draining the perspiration generated by the user's hand such that the sporting apparatus is subject to be slippery. In addition to a long period of time of using the protective strap, the user has to gradually make more efforts to hold the grip of the sporting apparatus such that the shock-absorptive effect of the protective strap will be decreasingly reduced. In addition, the base layer of nonwoven cloth is not provided with shock-absorptive effect such that the whole protective strap is fairly ineffective in shock absorption. While winding around the handle of sporting apparatus by a preload, the top gripping layer of PU will be damaged by the strain, which is resulted from that the magnitude of the top gripping layer is greater in extension than the base layer, and the shock-absorptive effect is thereby much reduced.

[0006] Moreover, the user may unconsciously make an action of rotating the grip along with the sporting apparatus while feeling nervous in a game. If the grip is rotated by the user in a direction opposite to a direction in which the protective strap is wound around the sporting apparatus, the strap body of the protective strap will be outwardly turnup at neighboring overlaps of the strap body and the protective strap will be accordingly damaged in a short time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a protective strap, which is effective in shock absorption, skidproofness, and gripping comfortableness.

[0008] The second objective of the present invention is to provide a protective strap, which strap body is free from being turnup while a grip formed of the strap is rotated along with a sporting apparatus.

[0009] The foregoing objectives of the present invention are attained by the protective strap, which is formed of a base layer and a top layer bonded to each other. The top layer, which is made of rubber and is smaller in thickness than the base layer, is provided with not only shock-absorptive and skidproof effects but also holding comfortableness while the protective strap is wound around a handle of the sporting apparatus or a sleeve fitted onto the handle. Additionally, the top layer is larger in width than the base layer such that a space is formed under where the top layer is overlapped when the protective strap is spirally wound around the handle or the sleeve. When a user rotates the sporting apparatus in a direction opposite to a direction around which the protective strap is wound, the top layer can be partially deformed toward the space to absorb an external force, such that the protective strap will not be turnup.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a protective strap in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention wound around a sleeve which is fitted onto the handle of a golf club shaft;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a partial exploded view of FIG. 1;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the protective strap of the first preferred embodiment showing the protective strap is wound around the sleeve;

[0014]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the protective strap in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention wound around the handle of a golf club shaft directly; and

[0015]FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the protective strap of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a protective strap 10 provided by a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is spirally wound around a sleeve 11, which is fitted onto a handle 2 of a golf club shaft 1, to form a grip with a predetermined length on the golf club shaft 1. The protective strap 10 comprises a base layer 12 and a top layer 13.

[0017] The sleeve 11, which is a tube member having an opening at one end thereof and the other end closed, is provided with an outer surface 11 a, a first flange 11 c at the closed end thereof, and a skirt portion 11 d at the open end thereof. The sleeve 11 is made of an elastic material and is sleeved onto and/or adhered to the handle 2 of the golf club shaft 1 by an adhesive.

[0018] The base layer 12 is made of polyurethane (PU) and has a top side 12 a and a bottom side 12 b. The base layer 12 has a uniform thickness of 1.2 mm.

[0019] The top layer 13 is made of rubber and has a top side 13 a and a bottom side 13 b. The thickness of the top layer 13 substantially ranges between 0.6 mm and 1.2 mm and is no larger than that of the base layer 12. In addition, the top layer 13 is provided with two protruded lips 13 c and 13 d, which respectively transversally extend beyond two lateral sides of the base layer 12 such that the top layer is larger in width than the base layer 12 by a length of substantially from 2.0 mm to 3.0 mm.

[0020] Furthermore, the top layer 13 is directly bonded to the top side 12 a of the base layer 12 at the bottom side 13 b thereof to form a strap body. As shown in FIG. 4, the top layer 13 and the base layer 12 are together spirally and overlappedly wound around the sleeve 11 of the grip. A space 12 c is formed under where the top layer is overlapped, i.e. among overlapped the top layer 13, the base layer 12, and the outer surface of the sleeve 11. The base layer 12 is adhered to the outer surface 11 a of the sleeve 11 between the first flange 11 c and the skirt portion 11 d directly or by an adhesive. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the skirt portion 11 d is folded toward the first flange 11 c to form a second flange, which tightly covers a free end of the strap body spirally wound around the sleeve such that the strap body is firmly fixed on the outer surface 11 a of the sleeve 11.

[0021] The protective strap 10 of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the top layer 13 is made of rubber and is smaller in thickness than the base layer 12 and is larger in width than the base layer 12.

[0022] Accordingly, the present invention includes advantages as follows:

[0023] 1. By virtue of the specificity of rubber, the grip is excellent in shock absorption while holding by the user to hit balls.

[0024] 2. The top layer of the strap of the grip is made of rubber such that the strap body will not be strained and then damaged to reduce the shock-absorptive effect as a result that the magnitude of the extension is much great while wound around the sleeve of the grip of the sporting apparatus by a preload.

[0025] 3. Additionally, the top layer of the grip is made of rubber such that the grip will not be slippery even though the grip is stained with the water or the perspiration of the user's hand, or the grip is held to quickly hit balls.

[0026] 4. The top layer is smaller in thickness than the base layer such that the comfortable effect of PU, of which the base layer is made, will be more outstanding than the top layer.

[0027] 5. When the grip is rotated in a direction opposite to a direction in which the protective strap wound around the sleeve, since the top layer is larger in width than the base layer, such that the top layer will be partially deformed toward the space and absorb an external force, which causes damage, and the protective strap will not be turnup.

[0028] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the protective strap 10 of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is formed of a base layer 12 made of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and a top layer 13. The base layer 12 is fixedly wound around the handle 2 of the golf club shaft 1 directly or by an adhesive so as to form directly a grip on the handle of the golf club shaft without the aforesaid sleeve. The top layer 13 is larger in width than the base layer 12 by the two protruded lips 13 c and 13 d, which are substantially from 2.0 mm to 3.0 mm in length. Two recessed portions 13 e and 13 g are formed respectively along bottom sides of the two protruded lips 13 c and 13 d and are arched in surfaces thereof. In addition to the aforementioned advantages, the present embodiment includes another advantages as follows. EVA of which the base layer is made provides excellent shock-absorptive effect and the lack of sleeve and the arched recessed portions 13 e and 13 g effectively reduce the total weight of the grip. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A protective strap for winding around a handle of a sporting apparatus, said protective strap comprising: a base layer having a top side and a bottom side; and a top layer made of rubber and having a top side and a bottom side, said bottom side of the top layer being bonded to said top side of said base layer, wherein said top layer is larger in width than said base layer and said top layer is smaller in thickness than said base layer.
 2. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said top layer ranges between 0.6 mm and 1.2 mm in thickness and said base layer is 1.2 mm in thickness.
 3. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said top layer is larger in width than said base layer by from 2.0 mm to 3.0 mm at a lateral side thereof.
 4. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said top layer has a protruded lip transversally extending at a lateral side thereof, and a recessed portion longitudinally extending along a bottom side of said protruded lip.
 5. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said base layer is made of polyurethane (PU).
 6. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said base layer is made of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA).
 7. The protective strap as defined in claim 1 winding on the handle of a sporting apparatus, wherein a space is formed under where the top layer is overlapped when the protective strap is spirally wound around the handle.
 8. A grip comprising: a tubular sleeve having an outer surface, a first flange at one end thereof and a skirt portion at the other end thereof, said sleeve being made of an elastic material, and a protective strap including a base layer having a top side and a bottom side, and a top layer made of rubber and having a top side and a bottom side, said bottom side of the top layer being bonded to said top side of said base layer, wherein said top layer is larger in width than said base layer and said top layer is smaller in thickness than said base layer; wherein the bottom side of said base layer is fixedly wound around the outer surface of said sleeve between said first flange and said skirt portion of said sleeve.
 9. The grip as defined in claim 8, wherein said skirt portion of said sleeve is folded toward the first flange to form a second flange, which tightly covers a free end of the protective strap such that the protective strap is firmly fixed on the outer surface of the sleeve. 